Evil Forest (Revision 1587)

After the crash landing, a moogle appears for a brief tutorial on Active Time Events (ATE), which are mostly optional extra scenes that you can watch (and sometime recieve items from). A prompt will appear at the lower-left corner of the screen if an ATE is available; press the Select button to view them. Check the far left side below the guy lying down for a Phoenix Down then save your game with the moogle. Continue southeast and into the hollow log in the bottom right corner.

Stick around this area for a while to level up some, and don't forget to equip the Mage Masher and Silk Shirt you stole earlier. Nearly every monster in this forest carries a Potion, so be sure to steal some. After grinding to at least level 5, return and save. Head east, deeper into the woods.

You'll receive a quick explanation on Trance at the beginning of the battle. Trance is this game's take on Limit Breaks, wherein a character gets access to special attacks for a period of 3 turns. Trance fades when the red meter empties. Use Zidane's Free Energy attack (do NOT use Tidal Flame). The monster also drains HP from Garnet throughout the battle so heal her with Potions when her HP gets low. If Garnet dies, it's game over so watch her health carefully. During the first battle there is also nothing to steal so don't waste the turn on trying. Defeat the creature and it comes back for a second helping.

This round is essentially the same as the last one -- only this time, Vivi is the one trapped. He will cast Fire on Prison Cage every turn so there's a bit of good news for you. As for Zidane, have him steal while Steiner attacks.If stealing proves difficult and you fear killing the monster before securing all the loot, have Steiner Defend by pressing right on the D-Pad.

After the battle, view the set of ATEs then collect the Bronze Gloves from the treasure chest near Baku. By the foot of the staircase to the left is a Wrist. Enter the nearby room, talk to Vivi then grab an Ether from the chest and 116 Gil from the top bunk. Leave and say you want to look for Garnet. Head to the left and enter the door; to your immediate left is an Ether. Go down and into the room next to Marcus; there's a Rubber Helm waiting to be picked up above. Baku is in the room to your right.

Go there and snag the Potion before speaking to Baku for a fight. This encounter is one-on-one but shouldn't be at all difficult, he only has just over 150 health. Make sure you steal both the Iron Sword and Hi-Potion before beating him. With Baku's permission to look for the princess, head for Vivi's room and ask him to join you. Steiner should be in the room that was previously blocked by Marcus; it should be accessible now so go get Rusty and an Ether then leave the ship. You'll get some of Blank's Medicine on the way out. Make sure to equip both Vivi and Steiner and level them up some.

Proceed back to were you first found Vivi in the forest and you'll get an ATE. Continue north afterwards. You can go left on the next screen to see a waterfall but you'll want to go to the right. There's a moogle in the trunk here. It also happens to be Monty, the recepient of Kupo's letter.

Talk to him and select Mognet to deliver it. Use the spring next to Monty to fully restore your HP and MP. Onward to your first real boss battle.

This is the first boss fight where losing becomes a real possibility, but Plant Brain is not much of a problem as long as you play it safe by keeping your HPs high at all times. Start off by stealing as always, while Vivi casts Fire and Steiner spam Fire Sword, Shift to offense with Zidane once you have all of the plant's items. Heal with Potions as necessary. When Blank joins the fun, have him assist with stealing just in case.

With the "Master" dead, the entire forest comes alive with an intent to kill. Some really angry plant life will try to run you down so run for it until you reach the exit. You might also want to consider stripping Blank of all his gear (he has an Iron Sword); you won't see him for a long while after this.

After the FMV sequence, it appears that the moogle Monty has also escaped the forest safely, and gives you the Moogle Flute. This lets you call moogles on the world map to save your game by pressing Square.